Editorial: Daniels' cooling off period in Indy

The question about whether Mitch Daniels would work the halls at the Statehouse once he moved from the governor's office to the president's office at Purdue University was never a deal-breaker.

But given the rules the former governor put into place to prevent a revolving door of state officials-turned-lobbyists, it was one hanging out there as Daniels opened the book on his new career at the state university.

The state's inspector general - someone, his critics justifiably point out, Daniels appointed - cleared him, giving him a clear path to lobby without guilt.

Still, it would be, how did Daniels put it ...

Awkward.

As Daniels settles in at Purdue, he says he will steer clear of Indianapolis for the time being. For starters, Daniels told the J&C, he believes the officials already working on Purdue's behalf are fine on their own. Bigger than that, though, is a lingering sense that his presence at the Statehouse could be a distraction in many ways.

"I think there are some reasons to let at least one season go by," Daniels said. "It's more of an intuition than some hard, fast rule."

In August, after the inspector general offered an opinion on the issue, we wrote: "It would be better to have Daniels stick close to campus for a year than to feed a notion that his presence at the Statehouse bends any of the rules he worked so hard to put into place."

It's good to hear that Daniels came to the same conclusion at a time when he, quite frankly, has plenty to do in West Lafayette.